Category Archives: Systems and scanning

A recent video and report by Phil Lempert, founder of supermarketguru.com, shared information about “Tally,” a robot that will be working the aisles at Schnucks looking for items that are out of stock and checking on prices.

The robot is being tested at a store in the Richmond Heights area of St. Louis, the article says. A second will be tested at another store in the Kirkwood area. The tests are expected to last about six weeks.

Tally weighs about 30 pounds and stands at 38 inches tall and has sensors to avoid bumping into things like shoppers and carts. It scans the shelves and notifies the store personnel when quantities are running low.

A recent article published by advancingretail.org shared some interesting information about understanding shopper behavior at the shelf.

“Understanding true shopper behavior in the store has become the latest battlefield in the fast moving consumer goods industry,” the article states.

Citing studies that show an estimated 76% of purchase decisions are made in the store, the article goes on to suggest that adding even a single product to a small percentage of shopping trips could equate to significant increases in sales revenue.

Wondering if there’s a way to accomplish this?

According to the article, Shopperception, a company with locations in Delaware and Buenos Aires, offers a platform that is able to “digitize shopper behavior in much the same way marketers are able to understand shoppers’ behavior online.”

Assuming the decision-making that will be based on the consumer preferences translated by this data is combined with high levels of customer service, could this be a win-win opportunity for shoppers and supermarkets alike?

A December 5th SupermarketNews article shared insights on the latest — and potentially most disruptive — development from Amazon: Amazon Go.

This new convenience store concept will offer consumers grocery essentials, convenience items and prepared foods-to-go without requiring them to check out.

The 1,800-square-foot test store, located in Seattle, is currently open to Amazon employees using the store in a beta test. It will open to the public early in 2017, the Seattle-based retailer said.

According to the article, these new stores will use proprietary technology allowing shoppers to take items from shelves and simply walk out with them to be billed later — “…a potentially big step toward meeting shopper demand for convenience while relieving Amazon the burden of costly fulfillment as it pursues a greater impact on food retailing.”

“Our Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart,” the company said in a release. “When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt.”

Amazon Go — reportedly known inside the company as “Project X” — has been the topic of considerable speculation in recent months. Recent reports said the company was eyeing the potential to add as many as 2,000 such stores in the coming decade following a test period in major markets before 2018.

Wow! We didn’t see this one coming, but it is certainly a good example of customer-driven decision-making! And as some in the industry are wondering, might this be then next big “game changer?”

A recent EIN News article reported that Martin’s Supermarkets has started using Park City Group’s ReposiTrak® compliance management solution to manage regulatory and business documentation compliance within their supply chain.

“Martin’s Super Markets is the latest retailer to recognize the advantages of using ReposiTrak to reduce brand, regulatory and financial risk in their supply chain,” said Randall K. Fields, Chairman and CEO of Park City Group. “Their commitment to food safety and transparency for their customers makes us proud to have them utilize our system.”

According to an article posted on fooddive.com, changes in food processing methods are impacting packaging needs. Manufacturers rethinking operations to meet FSMA requirements may address issues of food safety by using more advanced packaging for their products.

The article listed several key issues, including:

Three factors driving this growth are demand for hygienic packaging, development of innovative packaging solutions, and consumer engagement.

Food safety, shelf life, use of fresh and/or natural ingredients, and smart packaging may come into play for manufacturers when making decisions about advanced packaging and materials.

Independent operators will remain relevant because they have the flexibility and commitment to adapt and change, according to a recent SupermarketNews article.

The article was quoting remarks made by Peter J. Larkin, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association (NGA), at NGA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

Those in “the know” seemed to agree that Independents need to catch up on collecting information in order to remain competitive, so that they could “have an understanding of where consumers are shopping.”

Imagine an entire shopping trip without long lines or human interaction. The days of suffering through a mile-long-line on a shopping excursion might soon come to an end, according to a recent Mashable.com article.

The article shared information presented at the National Retail Foundation’s “Big Show” in New York by Diebold, which produces self-service finance products, will introduce what it’s dubbed a “contact-less self-checkout concept.”

The concept will allow grocery store customers to skip the check-out lines and instead scan items with their phones as soon as they stuff them into their cart.

At the end of the shopping trip, customers will stop by a self-checkout machine where they can either pay with cash on the machine or through a credit card through tapping the phone’s mobile wallet, which will have credit card information on file.

A recent SupermarketNews article shared information on software that might turn-back the clock when it comes to customer engagement.

The piece, entitled Moving From Transactional to Personalized Relationships in Grocery, references a time when “the neighborhood grocer knew all of his shoppers by name, and more importantly knew their shopping habits and preferences. It enabled a level of personalized service that benefitted both parties tremendously.”

The article goes on to say that through the use of technology and the data-driven insights it provides, the opportunity exists for that kind relationship to return. Personalization can now be scaled across a broad customer base with online tools and digital communication channels.

The journey involves four “stages of maturity” according to the white paper that is accessible through the article, which are:

Static & Minimal Digital Presence

Basic Digital Engagement

Digitally Active Customer Experience

Data-Driven Personalization

Once a supermarket reaches the fourth stage, it is suggested that they will be able to fully leverage the data and insights that their investments and strategic partnerships have been able to deliver.

“These grocers are leveraging real-time data to make strategic adjustments on the fly,” the article says. “…and using predictive data science to plan for the future.”

Phil Lempert produces weekly videos and comments on product marketing analysis, issues and trends and reviews the impact on the food and retail environments.

In a recent video, Lempert shares his views on the practice, by food retailers, of offering mobile payment and ordering options.

“For most shoppers the checkout experience can make or break a shopping trip,” he says. “… and using smart phones to order and pay for food in advance is steadily becoming something that consumers are embracing.”

Lempert goes on to suggest that sooner or later shopper’s will insist on having the ability to pay for their food purchases in different ways, and that supermarkets should proactively take steps now to enable digitally-inclined customers to leverage technology to simplify the overall process by ordering and paying for food in advance.

Millennials like self-checkout according to a recent article on PYMNTS.com —and they’d like it even more if they could use mobile payments there, according to results from survey commissioned by location-based mobile marketing vendor Retale.

According to the article, Millennials were more likely to have used self-checkout (91 percent, versus 81 percent for age 35 and up) and more likely to say they liked self-checkout because they “don’t like interacting with cashiers,”

To move to a system of continuous improvement requires that organizations develop the right mindset and use the right language and tools every day, in all their activities. That is a major culture change for most organizations.

But once people know what to work on, the question becomes which tools and methods will help you achieve your goals.

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